First we use oil that pollutes and changes the climate of our home. Then we build nuclear bombs and power stations that destroy our home - the land, air and seas for thousands of years. All when there are safe and renewable resources. The sun and wind.

They've connected & turned on electrical power to the #5 & #6 reactors & temperatures in their spent-fuel pools are finally dropping. The single generator that was previously powering their pumps was insufficient.

They've connected power to the #1 & #2 reactors but must run tests to see if their pumps are functional before they can turn the power on.

The Tokyo fire department over 13 hours pumped 1900 tons of water into the #3 reactor building & they believe a portion of the water helped to fill its spent-fuel pool.

About an hour ago they finally began pumping water into the #4 reactor building trying to get water into its spent-fuel pool.

Btw thanx for that Reuters live blog. It said there are 300 workers at the Fukushima plant made up of TEPCO engineers as well as firemen & self-defence forces. Somebody said there's at least one woman worker but I haven't seen that info anywhere else. They workers are being held incommunicado from the outside world including their families.....after a couple of incidents a few days ago where things workers told their families made their way to the news media.

Besides the 19 injured workers who were taken off site after the previous explosions & fires (& 2 workers who are still 'missing' which is a frightening idea to contemplate).....about 10% of the current 300 workers have been seriously injured somehow ranging from broken leg to severe radiation sickness.

I'm very concerned about this situation with the workers. What's happening to them there will set precedents for future treatment of workers in dangerous emergency conditions worldwide. The workers are certainly heroes.....& it just goes to show that when the rubber meets the road it's not the executives who get their hands dirty.

Yet the 'standard' business practice today is to reward executives with obscene amounts of $$ compensation & bonuses. The workers meanwhile see their pay compared to 30 years ago much lower & all the other problems we know about like underemployment, lack of health coverage, union busting, etc etc etc.

FRIDAY, March 18 (HealthDay News) -- Trace amounts of radiation apparently from the crippled nuclear power plant in Japan have started to reach California, but they pose no health risks, according to news reports.

A diplomat with access to radiation tracking by the United Nations' Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty Organization told the Associated Press that initial readings are "about a billion times beneath levels that would be health threatening." The diplomat spoke on the condition of anonymity because the organization doesn't make its findings public, the news service said.

Federal officials and radiation experts in the United States insist there's no threat to public health from the radiation plume, but they are still closely monitoring the situation with detection monitors along the West Coast, the AP said.

The chances of any radioactive plume reaching the United States are "close to zero," Jacqueline Williams, program director for radiation medicine at the University of Rochester Medical Center's Center for Biophysical Assessment and Risk Management Following Irradiation, told HealthDay earlier this week.

"Obviously, what's happening [in Japan] is changing from moment to moment," Williams added, "but there seems to be very little in the way to fear."

Someone correct me If I am wrong...I understand that the reason the emergencency generators failed to pump water to avoid this whole disaster is that they were not put up high enough to avoid the tidal wave????

If this is true it certainly points to human falability..

I am very much infavor of nuclear power as long its properly engineered..I see no other alternative to fossil fuels in the IMMEDIATE future...

Before you jump on me for being Pro-nuclear...1) some of the alternative energy sources depend upon very, very toxic to get rare-earth materials (of which china has a monoploy)

so there is going to be damage to the environment and death from exposure anyway you go...but seems like a few tens of thousand of dollars putting the back-up system on stilts would have avoided this japanese tragedy..

2)There seems to be some interesting work being done with algee/bacteria produced hydrocarbons/fuel....Producing automobile fuel from corn seems to take about as much energy as it produces, AND it diverts food...

Plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Company said radiation was found in the Pacific nearby, not surprising given rain and the hosing of reactors with seawater. Radioactive iodine in the sea samples was 126.7 times the allowed limit, while cesium was 24.8 times higher, Kyodo news agency said. That still posed no immediate danger, TEPCO said.

Elvis--Biggest problem with nuclear as they do it now is the on-site storage of spent fuel rods. The politicians (worldwide) have talked & talked about what to do with the rods while they've been 'temporarily' stored on-site for 40 years. On the Reuters live blog (Golf posted the link) people are talking about the need to move towards nuclear fission (versus fusion) which would be a much cleaner energy form. I heard about the algae oil too.....as you say way better than corn which is just stupid & drives up the cost of food.

""There was a 25 foot wall at the plant to protect against tsunamis. The wave was over 30 feet.""

I know you have kept more up-to-date as to whats going on in Japan..A friend of mine thats a news junkie mentioned that the backup generators should have been put on higher ground to pump the coolent water....

I am aware that the earth quake was extremely powerfull...But I think we are stuck with nuclear power for a while anyways...

They have to be built to withstand everything imaginable and that probably means 5 times as much security as nescaaryy and built like the proverbial brick sh**house...

Maybe in ten, twenty or so years some alternative source or combination of alternative energy sources could begin to take up the slack...If not then we ALL suffer...

This is an Engeneering problem, directly analogous to putting a man on the moon....

Just wondering General Electric didn't build that plant did they, as I was about to add maybe we could export american engeneering expertise.....But....

It's all very sad what happened in Japan,yes. It's not our problem!!! There's plenty of problems here in America. Now we're bombing Libya. Why didn't we bomb *Moron* Gaddafi when he blew up the plane over Lockerbie? It's a little late don't you think??? What a show!!! I heard something about the price of gas is now being blamed on the Libya bombing. We've been told it's the Afghan/Iraq thing. Make up our minds!!! Which is it.

The Prez is in another foreign country discussing what He's offered help to foreign countries,...again and spit in our faces, when he can't handle the problems here in AMERICA. Millions of us are without jobs or money. Way too many millions of people on food stamps. I'm so fed up with this disregard for the civil decency of the American citizens. Another slap in the face folks. I don't understand how anyone can approve of Obama's action. As far as I'm concerned, it's a disgrace what's happening in this country. Karma is a useful asset and we can be sure that we're safe as time takes care of all the evil in this world. No one can escape the wrath that's coming whether alive or dead. I wouldn't want to be one of the evil doers from whatever party on judgement day or the wrath they'll feel here. Burning by no means is pleasant and those that think they won't burn have another thing coming. This country is so broken. Another sad day in America when we're left stranded. What do we got to do?, grab a log in the nearest water system? And NO, don't go to MrGolf's septic system.